"In all of living have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured!"~ Gordon B. Hinckley

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Once Upon a Camera

The moral of this story: He who waits is blessed. As long as he does his research too and doesn't settle.

Once upon a time I decided that in my spare time while I'm not busy with school, kids, or a full-time job, I should occupy my time by getting a hobby. Like learning photography! The thought is pretty daunting though. I mean, the equipment is really expensive, and there's just soooo much to learn both technically and artistically, plus all the computer editing and lighting stuff and goodness knows what else that I don't know anything about. Staying in my "ignorance is bliss auto point-and-shoot" happy zone certainly sounds much safer!

So I got all discouraged about it and decided to leave it alone. And then I went to a Christmas party for Trevor's fellow acoustic BYU friends, and happened to share a table with someone else who was in my same boat a year or two ago. With her happy life-time of dance and social life abruptly ended by pregnancy and graduation and all those other good things that happen when we grow up, she suddenly had free time and no artistic outlet. So she bought herself a used camera, read every book on photography at the library that she could get her hands on, and practiced practiced practiced, and she LOVES it!

So then I got all fired up again! And we started camera searching for entry-level SLR's and asking input from sales clerks, and fellow photographer friends, looking up online reviews, comparing specs, trying to figure out exactly which things would be important and which ones didn't matter...etc. and finally I had it narrowed down to about 5. Then I got stuck again, and couldn't decide which one. People kept saying to just hold them and choose which one felt the best, but honestly, they all feel about the same to my inexperienced hands. I had 2 favorites in my mind, but they were the 2 most expensive of course, and they were out of our price range.

I stayed in that rut for a good month or two and just didn't worry about it until Trevor got me going again and we narrowed it down to a first place and second place favorite. We started looking on KSL and google shopping to find some better deals that were in our price range. And then I found it! A slightly older version of the camera I wanted, for just the right price! So I texted the girl selling it...and it was already sold. Blast. Interestingly enough, it turns out I had seen her ad awhile earlier and contacted her about it while it was still available, but then I wasn't sure enough and didn't ever get back to her. A couple weeks later and I had forgotten it was the same person...and of course it had been sold by then, she just hadn't taken down the ad. Missed that boat.

A week later I checked again and found the exact camera I wanted brand new for a little more than I wanted to spend, but still ok, and he only lived like 5 minutes away from us! He said another someone else wanted it too, but if they didn't buy it he'd sell it to me! Yay! I browsed a bit more and found the second place camera I wanted, also brand new, for a great price! Crazy! So I contacted him and said I was interested enough to buy it...but I wanted to hear back from the other guy before I committed.

The next day I got a text and the second place camera had already been sold while I waited for the first guy. So I texted the first guy, and he had already sold it and just hadn't texted me yet. Ugh! I was kind of just wishing I had jumped on the second place camera while I had the chance, or just texted the first place camera guy as soon as I saw the posting instead of double checking specs and making sure it was what I wanted. But that's not what happened.

So I continued my search for deals. And then I found it. Exactly the camera I wanted, refurbished (so basically like new), with the kit (lens, extra battery, tutorial DVD's, memory card, camera strap, yada yada), for sale by a camera store nearby that offers free beginning photography classes with the purchase of a camera, and with a 1-year extended store warranty covering any accidental damage (from water and dropping it too!), for $350 off, and free shipping!! Sold!!!

So now I'm really really glad that none of those other deals I thought I wanted worked out, because now I got the actual camera I want instead of an older version, it's for a better deal than I found online, it's from an actual camera store instead of just some random person's camera, I get a couple free classes, aaand if something happens to it, I'm covered for a year :)

The hard part now is waiting patiently for it to come in the mail!...Well...that and the fact that I still have to learn how to use it :) I can't wait!